10% of Ukrainian households in blackout as power grid overloads

Up to 10% of household consumers across Ukraine were temporarily disconnected from the power grid on May 14, according to national grid operator Ukrenergo.

Ukrenergo head Volodymyr Kudrytskyi told Ukrainian TV broadcasters that the emergency blackouts had to be introduced due to surging demand as air temperatures dropped.

“Up to 10% of consumers are temporarily disconnected from the power grid until the end of the day in all regions,” said Kudrytskyi.

“The issue is not that electricity cannot be delivered to a particular region, but that there is not enough combined generation capacity from power plants to cover consumption, and the imports are insufficient to make up the deficit.”

He explained that today’s increase in consumption was such that the power system could not cope—there was not enough import and industrial restrictions—and therefore, it was necessary to include households in the blackouts.

Read also: Ukrenergo warns of potential evening power outages in Ukraine after Russian attack

Ukrenergo previously announced rolling blackouts across the country from 9:00 PM to midnight on May 14.

The operator started limiting electricity supply to industry and businesses after May 8 Russian missile strikes on Ukraine’s power generation facilities.

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